For Rabil, the trade is the third in less than a year. In August, the Edmonton Rush dealt Rabil to the Knighthawks after Rabil refused to play for Edmonton and declared his desire to be with an Eastern team. Rabil had been traded to the Rush during the 2012 season by the Everett, Wash.-based Washington Stealth, which drafted him second overall in 2008.

In four seasons in the NLL, Rabil has 44 goals, 79 assists and 324 loose balls in 52 games, earning All-Star honors all four years. The 26-year-old Gaithersburg native helped lead the Stealth to the 2010 league title and is one of three players to have won crowns in the NLL, Major League Lacrosse, the Federation of International Lacrosse world championships and NCAA Division I. Rabil won the NLL’s Champions Cup in 2010 with the Stealth and NCAA championships with Hopkins in 2005 and 2007.

“This trade allows us the opportunity to get the most recognizable player in the sport to join our team. Paul Rabil is in the prime of his career and plays a big part in our plans to get younger and more athletic,” said Wings owner and team president Michael French. “Paul can play really any position on the field with his speed and power.”

As part of the transaction, the Wings also acquire Knighthawks transitional players Jordan Hall, Joel White and Rob Campbell, while Rochester receives the Wings first-round draft pick in 2016.

Monmouth and Quinnipiac announced that they will leave the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference beginning July 1.

The MAAC's Council of Presidents extended invitations to the schools after its league meeting today.

The departures leave the NEC with four schools that play men's lacrosse — Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. To gain an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, a conference needs a minimum of six members. Next season will mark the first in which the Northeast Conference has an automatic qualifier for men's lacrosse, and it could be the last unless the conference can find other schools willing to leap into the recent realignment trend.

The additions give the MAAC nine men's lacrosse members for 2014, with six full members — Canisius, Manhattan, Marist, Siena, Monmouth and Quinnipiac — and three associates — Detroit, Jacksonville and VMI.

In its coaches' poll, the magazine ranked the Mount second in the conference behind defending conference tournament champion Bryant.

UDC women hire Zwick Brown as first coach

The University of the District of Columbia has announced the hiring of Melynda Zwick Brown as its first-ever women's lacrosse head coach. The Firebirds will compete in the Division II East Coast Conference beginning in the 2014 season.

Zwick Brown has three years of college coaching experience at the Division I level as an assistant coach at Connecticut. Inheriting a 1-15 team, Zwick Brown helped the Huskies to consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history. During her time at UConn, Zwick Brown served as the offensive coordinator and guided the Huskies to the 20th-ranked scoring offense, She also served as goalies coach for one season and the draw specialist coach for two seasons, during one of which the team was ranked fifth in the nation for draw controls per game.

After three years at UConn, Zwick Brown spent the past year coaching at Holton Arms High in Potomac. As defensive coordinator and goalie coach, she helped rebuild the girls lacrosse program; after three losing seasons the team earned a record of 11-4 and won the Independent School League championship.

Zwick Brown, a native of Holland, Pa., was a four-year letter-winner in lacrosse at Massachusetts. She posted 100 total points on 60 goals and 40 assists over her playing career. Zwick Brown also had a stellar high school career at Council Rock South in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. She still holds the Pennsylvania scoring record for a single season with 129 goals as a junior.